Vizzini Attractions
Location
Vizzini is one of the places in the Monti Iblei which were re-built after the 1669 earthquake, so the townscape is characterized by Baroque churches and palazzi.
Vizzini has become immortalized in literature and the world of opera, as a result of its links with the Sicilian writer Giovanni Verga (1840-1922), whose novels about the region dealt mainly with farmers and fishermen. The novel called "Mastro Don Gesualdo" is set in Vizzini and the surrounding countryside, and so is the tale "Cavalleria Rusticana" (Alfio, for example, comes from Licodia, a few miles southwest of Vizzini). Verga also produced the stage version of this tale, which Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) set to music in his successful opera of the same name.
Vizzini is one of the places in the Monti Iblei which were re-built after the 1669 earthquake, so the townscape is characterized by Baroque churches and palazzi.
Vizzini has become immortalized in literature and the world of opera, as a result of its links with the Sicilian writer Giovanni Verga (1840-1922), whose novels about the region dealt mainly with farmers and fishermen. The novel called "Mastro Don Gesualdo" is set in Vizzini and the surrounding countryside, and so is the tale "Cavalleria Rusticana" (Alfio, for example, comes from Licodia, a few miles southwest of Vizzini). Verga also produced the stage version of this tale, which Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) set to music in his successful opera of the same name.
Palazzo Cafini
Among the palaces mention should be made of Palazzo Cafini. Its three-storyed facade is richly and impressively decorated; the central section with the door and large balcony extends up in convex fashion to the upper floor, and slender side-columns form a framework to the floors and serve to link them together.
San Giovanni Battista
A beautiful example of the Baroque influence on the architecture of Vizzini is the church of San Giovanni Battista with its tall, three-storyed front adorned with columns and its high drum-dome. The interior of this large, triple-aisled and columned basilica has some fine stucco decoration all in white.
